The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily 1385: At Night by Stanley Plumly
Oct 30, 2025
Maggie Smith delves into the complexities of solitude, sharing her own experiences as a solo parent and artist. She reflects on the necessity and challenges of being alone, especially during lockdown. The discussion highlights Stanley Plumly's profound understanding of solitude in a poet's life. Listeners are treated to a reading of Plumly's poignant poem, At Night, which explores themes of darkness, memory, and maternal absence. This reflective journey invites an appreciation for the power and depth of poetry.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Deliberately Carving Out Alone Time
- Maggie Smith describes how she structures her life to protect long stretches of alone time for work and creativity.
- She contrasts being a solo parent and living in one city with the solitude she still manages to preserve.
The Double-Edged Nature Of Solitude
- Solitude is a double-edged necessity for artists: it enables creation but can make one feel feral or disconnected.
- Maggie frames moderation as key, acknowledging both the value and the risks of prolonged apartness.
Plumly's Nightly Meditation On Inherited Loneliness
- Maggie introduces and reads Stanley Plumly's poem 'At Night,' which meditates on carrying darkness and inherited loneliness.
- The poem links the mother's nightly disappearance to the speaker's sense of future solitude and identity.